EVENT #1	The Orleans Open Limit Texas Hold'em ($120 buy-in)	July 11, 1998

The Final Table Official Results The Evening Tournament

THE BIGGEST EVER! By Mike Paulle For the first time in poker history, more than 1,000 players paid to enter a tournament. Breaking the record the Orleans Open held from last year's first event, 1,002 started at noon today. In what would seem to be an unwieldy number, the elimination of player after player went smoothly until just after 8 p.m. there were only thirty left, all of whom were in the money. The heartbreaking 31st player, one out of the money, understandably didn't want to give us her name. She had beaten 971 players, the most ever, to have gotten nothing for her efforts. To set up the final table, Clyde Quick raised all-in from the small blind with pocket Aces. Unfortunately, for Quick, he had only $3,000 more than the big blind. Yohanes Muruz thought for a minute then called the mini-raise with 7 3. The flop contained the required two treys to send Clyde Quick-ly out in 11th. The Final Table Seat 1 Jennifer Harmon Las Vegas, NV $73,800 Seat 2 Xuan Thi Le Las Vegas, NV $50,400 Seat 3 Frank Perry Oakridge, TN $21,600 Seat 4 Mike Minor Las Vegas, NV $21,200 Seat 5 Thomas Byun Billings, MT $48,400 Seat 6 Terry Faris Kingwood, TX $45,700 Seat 7 Brian Kneier Alpine, CA $72,800 Seat 8 JC Pearson Nashville, TN $28,300 Seat 9 James Lessard Mahtomedi, MN, $90,600 Seat 10 Yohanes, Muruz Las Vegas, NV $47,200 Frank Perry called JC Pearson's raise all-in with an A Q on the button. Mike Minor was already all-in in the small blind. The board read A 3 9/ A 2. Mike Minor tapped the table thinking he had lost to Perry. Surprised--in a Minor way--when the pot was pushed toward him, Mike heard the dealer say "flush". In a major disappointment to Frank Perry, Mike Minor had 6 4 of Hearts. The Deuce of Hearts on the river had given Mike a Minor miracle and sent Frank Perry out in 10th. Terry Faris thought Yohanes Muruz didn't have an overpair when Yohanes raised from early position. When the flop came 8 6 2, Terry bet out, all-in, with 6 5. Faris was right about Muruz's hand. Yohanes had A K. He was wrong about the river though. When a King came, Terry was out in 9th. JC Pearson had been crippled in the Minor flush hand. All-in for the small blind with 4 2, he was easy pickings for James Lessard with A 8. JC finished in 8th place. James Lessard continued to play the terminator. Thomas Byun had the best hand in the small blind with A Q, but Lessard was hot. James turned over K Q when the King came on the flop. Byun was bygone in 7th. Jennifer Harmon wasn't having a very enjoyable final table. In an early hand, she lost half her chips to Yohanes Muruz when she couldn't call his all- in bet. If she would have been able to, she would have won with the higher card. All-in with her last $7,300, Jennifer's A J lost to Mike Minor's A K. No Jack, no minor miracle. Harmon left in 6th place. Xuan Thi Le didn't have many cards at the final table and was all-in for the big blind with K 2. The table sheriff, James Lessard had A 8. No help came for Xuan. She got 5th money. Now the four remaining players started to talk deal. The chip count at this point was as follows: James Lessard, $151,200 Brian Kneier, $128,300 Yohanes Muruz, $120,400 Mike Minor, $ 97,100 At first, Lessard insisted that he deserved a premium for his chip lead. Finally, he relented to the others and accepted a four way split of $17,988 each. In the play that followed, Lessard won the trophy and the Tounament of Champions entry. Official Prize Money 1st James Lessard $38,777 2nd Yohanes Muruz $18,957 3rd Brian Kneier $9,479 4th Mike Minor $4,739 5th Xuan Thi Le $3,447 6th Jennifer Harmon $3,016 7th Thomas Byun $2,585 8th JC Pearson $2,154 9th Terry Faris $1,723 10th Frank Perry $1,293 11th-20th received $752 Clyde Quick Daniel Negreanu Johnny Le Rudy Williams Carolyn Gardner Rick Randle Earl Kim John Peoples Andy Studley tie Jack Lindquist and Kathryn McCarthy 21st-30th received $501 Ruston Eleogram Dave Allen Jenny Soosmith Chris Grigorian Sed Day Janice Delany Ben Pearlman Tony Flores Dall Luke Evening Tournament Results In the evening tournament, John Macintosh won 1st place and the Tournament of Champions entry. Official Prize Money 1st John Macintosh $10,440 2nd Craig DeSalvo $5,220 3rd Dick Arnove $2,610 4th Bob Branam $1,957 5th Reg Coalwell $1,304 6th Tom Parish $1,175 7th Mickey Cerasa $1,044 8th Les Spear $914 9th Steve Warr $783 10th Dan Heimiller $653 11th-20th received $320 Dave C, Mike L, Max Stern, Alex B, Arthur R, Bob P, Sam C, Marie Gabert, Jack S and Mike O'Malley. In a reversal of policy overnight, John Bonetti was allowed to play in the event. He is free to play in tournaments only, no live play for the duration of the Orleans Open.